Tandem
A bank made by unbanky people
Tandem is a new digital bank, one of just a handful of challengers to the ‘big five’ in the UK—and now with plans to expand into Asia. For its 100,000+ customers it acts as a pocket financial assistant, looking at their spending and pointing to ways to improve their finances.
As first on the founding team and Design Director for Tandem’s first three years, my work touched all areas of the business—impacting core purpose and values, name, brand, customer research, marketing and web, successive product and service propositions, and the app customers use today.
A fresh play in arguably the world’s least loved industry, we got going in 2014 just as public trust in banks reached a low ebb, with glaring evidence of continued malpractice in the industry.
Our early work on the customer proposition quickly developed a focus on digitally-savvy Millennials. For them, banking was a utility that they struggled to care much about directly. As for money, managing it was a hassle that, despite being vitally important, often got in the way of enjoying life. Millennials we spoke to were quick to anticipate a service that could take on some of that work, so they could feel on top of things without the stress.
